UT Arlington president Karbhari to step down immediately
UT Arlington president Vistasp Karbhari announced he would step down immediately, according to an emailed letter shared by the UT System Chancellor with the university community Thursday night.
“This evening I received a letter from President Karbhari informing me that he intends to step down as president, effective immediately,” read the letter, which was from Chancellor James Milliken. “I am grateful to President Karbhari for his commitment to The University of Texas at Arlington, and I commend him on the difficult decision to step down now so the university can devote its full attention to the important issues at hand.”
Karbhari’s decision to step down immediately comes after multiple faculty and staff members told the Star-Telegram he had created a culture of bullying and retaliation and after the UT System released an audit detailing alleged misdeeds regarding online course enrollment at UT Arlington. He had originally planned to step down in late August.
The audit, which is from 2019 but released today to local media outlets, alleges that UT Arlington senior officials used a “Direct Admit” program for online classes to grow enrollment, violating UT System and state codes. It also alleges that Karbhari solicited donations from the vendor, which was paid at least $178 million, and its founder, and that UT Arlington officials allowed the vendor’s staff to provide input on the admissions process.
In a letter to the chief audit executive of the UT System, Karbhari denied all of the allegations raised in the audit, and countered with a 62-page report. “We hoped to provide a short response,” he wrote, “but the investigation report is so flawed due to a lack of evidence, insufficient fact gathering, use of factually inaccurate data and mischaracterizations that it is impossible to give it any credence and should be rejected outright.”
The “direct admit” program allowed transfer students to enroll in online nursing classes without the university immediately verifying their academic credentials. The report, conducted by the third-party firm Protiviti in conjunction with the UT System, alleges that “direct admit” was enacted without consultation from UT Arlington legal counsel or approval from the UT System Board of Regents.
“Moreover, it was done in spite of repeated oral and written reservations and concerns raised by admissions officers and other senior officials at the University,” the audit stated. “Their concerns were put aside and, as a result, the Direct Admit program may have exposed UTA and UTS to potential legal liability.”
Since 2013, when Karbhari took over as president, UT Arlington’s full-time enrollment has swelled from 33,000 to nearly 50,000 students, according to Department of Education statistics. Its online offerings have grown at an even greater rate. As of fall 2017, according to System records, UT Arlington offered 625 online courses, up from 232 in 2013, and it had nearly 20,000 students enrolled in online courses, up from 10,000 in 2013. Some 50% of students took at least one online course. A press release from UT Arlington in fall 2016 touted UT Arlington’s growth, noting that it could become “potentially the largest campus in the University of Texas System.” Fall 2018 enrollment numbers from the Department of Education, the most recent year available, indicate UT Arlington is smaller than UT Austin.
According to the audit, the third-party vendor was paid $178 million over a five-year period by UT Arlington, and Karbhari solicited donations for UTA from the vendor and the vendor’s chairman (the audit claimed the vendor and its chairman and its former CEO donated over $1 million). Karbhari also went on two international trips with the vendor’s executives, according to the audit.
Karbhari submitted his decision to step down to UT System leaders late last year, shortly after the audit was completed. In February, a former administrator filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against him accusing him of bullying and retaliation. The Faculty Senate submitted a letter to the UT System in March saying he demonstrated a lack of commitment to diversity at the school and had caused confusion because of an exodus of high-ranking officials. During Karbhari’s tenure, at least 24 people who were in administrative and dean positions at UT Arlington have left, been fired or assumed other roles on campus, based on an analysis of staff directories (UT Arlington lists 20 administrative and dean positions; some positions were cycled through more than once).
The UT System had been made aware of concerns with Karbhari’s leadership years before the lawsuit. A performance evaluation of Karbhari for the 2018 fiscal year, which was obtained by the Star-Telegram, noted that his method of communicating and leadership style “continue to be an issue,” leading to low morale and high turnover. “UT System has been informed by multiple executives on the campus that President Karbhari’s inability to delegate and empower those he leads, and his need to control all decisions, has caused serious issues at the campus,” the 2018 evaluation read.
Karbhari had staunch defenders, too. During his time at UT Arlington, the school became a Carnegie Research 1 university and was honored for having one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation. Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams praised him for creating good partnerships between the university and the local startup community. On Thursday, before it was announced he was stepping down immediately, a group of about 30 faculty and staff shared a letter with the Star-Telegram that they had sent to Milliken explaining why they endorsed Karbhari. The staff included athletic director P. James Baker and Anne Bavier, the dean of the nursing school, various professors and public officials. They highlighted the university’s achievements and Karbhari’s handling of campus during the coronavirus outbreak.
“Considering the current climate and the uncertain future with the viral outbreak, this is hardly an opportune time to change leadership,” the letter read. “At the very least, a leadership change would affect the momentum and the gains that have been made and are continuing to be made on this campus. President Karbhari is known for his consistent approach and decisiveness and great concern for UTA, its students, faculty and staff. As elaborated in this letter, this institution is certainly on a positive trajectory, and President Karbhari is the leader that we need at this moment in UTA history to solidify our position as a top-tier institution.“
The resignation agreement between Karbhari and Milliken included details about Karbhari holding tenure as a faculty member in the aerospace, civil and mechanical engineering departments. It indicated his salary would be set at the average of the three highest salaries in the aerospace and mechanical departments.
Milliken asked the university community to thank Karbhari in his letter from tonight and pointed to the upward trajectory of the school. “UTA is well positioned for continued success in the years to come,” he wrote. “That’s great news for Texas and all the people in it.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 9:46 PM.
